Total Eclipse
by Nessiteras rhombopteryx
Summary: A slightly OOC Bella destroys the comfortable bubble in which the Cullens live their happy-ever-after. Love, hope, pain and betrayal follow because change does not always brings bliss. A multi-chapter story rated M for Sex&Violence. Includes Bellice.
1. Highway to Forks

**Welcome to my first fanfic. I made the outline of the plot and it's going to be a pretty long project, so I recommend you subscribe for alerts and have patience.**

**Everything Twilight belongs to Stephanie Mayer. **

APOV

I know where I am. I am stuck in a boring high school, in a rainy little town. Stuck and bored like always. But I don't know when I am. We are doing the same things in a never ending cycle. Yesterday it's the same with today and so will be tomorrow. Is this the present, a memory or a vision of the future? My passion for fashion is an attempt to mark moments, to make them different, so I can tell that this image I am seeing now it's from this winter, not the last one, not the next one. I am dressing up time. We are doing always the same things. We did not change anything major in our lives since I joined the Cullens in the 50's. We are not dead, but we are not alive either, we just exist. Time has lost its meaning because there is no change. The laws of the Universe ask for permanent change and we, safely bored in our little bubble, are breaking this law on our own risk. 

**10101000101010010101110001010**

BPOV

As the GPS showed me that the next town is Forks, my destination, the feeling of freedom that I enjoyed on the road was replaced by dread and unease. Instinctively I slowed down and thought about turning back, going home to Phoenix, but I knew I can't do that, I knew that I had to say goodbye to my funny, harebrained mother and go live with my taciturn dad, ironically a cop, a man that I knew only from the short periods we spent together each summer.

Charlie was surprised, but thrilled when I called him on Christmas Eve and asked if I can move in with him. His only condition was that I give up motorcycles and it pained me, but I could not object to that. The main reason that made me go in this self-imposed exile to the hell named Forks was to keep myself safe and riding a Hayabusa on the wet roads of a rainforest it's probably not very safe. Or fun. Of course, my dad did not knew that it was his permanent rant against the danger of motorcycles that made me join a motorcycle racing club in Phoenix after my last boring and wet vacation in Forks 5 years ago. Riding a fast bike on a circuit was much more fun then fishing in the rain with my dad, so my rebellion paid off.

Charlie's excitement at my moving was seriously reduced when I told him that I am gay. It was not a topic that I really wanted to talk about with him, but I had to know his attitude on this before I found myself locked in the basement or subjected to whatever he would think that is a treatment for my gayness. Charlie was not happy but promised to be tolerant and I had a feeling that in tiny Forks I will have a hard time finding someone with whom to test his tolerance.

The raindrops were relentlessly falling on the windshield adding to my sadness. Leaving Phoenix, leaving all the people that I loved behind have been heart breaking. As I was heading to my car my mom had asked me again if I'm sure I want to do this. She always told me that getting married very young was her biggest mistake, but I knew that it was not true. That mistake was corrected when she divorced Charlie. Her biggest mistake was heaving a child while being too young, was giving birth to me, being forced to raise a child while she wanted to explore and discover the world and herself. She loved me with all her heart, but at the same time she regretted being tied up to me. Before entering the car I turned around, hugged and kissed her and I felt better knowing that while leaving made me feel miserable, maybe it will make a bit happier the person I loved most.

I was supposed to leave directly for Forks, but instead I went to Jeff's car and motorcycle custom shop to say goodbye to my friends without expecting that my leaving would turn into a large and pretty wild party. I left the shop where I had spent so many wonderful hours only the next morning after catching enough sleep on the couch in the office to be able to drive.

Jeff was already in the front parking getting ready to work.

'I'm going to make your shop famous on my road trip' I said pointing at the logo of his shop, a burning dragon, painted on the doors of my coupe.

'I see that you're taking your computer with you. Drive safe, so it does not fly from the backseat and crash, maybe you will need it again'

'I will, but not for that'

'Yeah, right!' he snorted in disdain.

This was what was driving me away from my home and my friends. We all liked fast cars and even faster bikes, but we needed lots of money for them and we, being teenagers or young adults, did not have so much money. Of course, I was not really making money working at Jeff's shop; it was just a front that we used for many things from hiding from our parents to money laundering. We made the money doing what is legally defined as wire fraud, a crime that carries a stiff penalty and the worse part was that we were getting caught.

The last time we hacked the software defenses of our target we realized that we left prints leading back to us and if we try again the authorities would be able to gather enough evidence against us. I was doing this for the past 2 years and I felt that it was enough. We had a lot of luck to find a tiny hole in their security, but our luck was running out. For a Belgian cooperative our target handled a lot of money. Actually, most of the world's money was transferred by their network, trillions of dollars daily, and everybody took SWIFT's safety very serious.

My solution was simple. We stop. Enjoy what we have while we have it.

Jeff, our unofficial leader, was an excellent car mechanic who had no idea about computers, but had a different opinion on what we should do. He thought that I, as the wizard programmer of our group, should create better software tools so we don't get caught. At 21 he had to pay the bills of his house, had a girlfriend in college, a nice car, 2 motorcycles and a business that was on red ink since the first day. Easy money are much more addictive then any drug, so, to keep what he had, he wanted us to continue on a path that was ending in jail and I knew that I could not stay in Phoenix without getting involved in this.

I had to choose between trying to keep my friends and myself out of jail with my programming ability and leaving Phoenix.

In my decision I was helped by Katherine.

I had a huge crush on her, on the way her suntanned skin brought out the green of her eyes and how her black, curly hair seemed to amplify her tiniest movements.

At first she did not care about me, but at some point she became interested and when she started kissing me in the middle of our high school parking lot I felt like I was flying. Unfortunately, about 2 weeks later I realized that the purpose of our daily PDA was for her to get the attention of a boy with many piercings. Heartbreak made me departure easier.

The police cruiser parked on the curb made me realize that I have reached my destination. I parked inside the garage and I was soon greeted by Charlie: 'Welcome Bella!'

'Hi, dad!'

'How was the trip?'

'Long, it took a day more then I expected'. There was no point mentioning that the lost day was spent partying even before I was out of Phoenix.

'This is a beautiful car' Charlie said looking disapproving at my customized Audi TT.

'And it is easy to guess who is the owner' I joked showing him the gracious black swan with a bell on her neck that was airbrushed on the hood of the blue car.

'Not a problem in Forks'. I had to agree with him on that. My car will draw a lot of attention, but it was obvious that I would get that attention no matter what, so I rather face the stares looking pretty in my posh car.

'Let's get the luggage to your room'. The only thing I liked in Forks was my bedroom. Before marrying Renee, Charlie added a second floor to the house and the entire new floor was just a huge master bedroom with a large bathroom, walk-in-closet, balcony and windows on 3 walls overlooking the forest that starts by the house. When mom took me and left Forks, Charlie gave up his dreams of marital bliss and moved back to his bedroom downstairs, so the room became mine when I started coming here for the summers.

After eating fried fish for dinner in an awkward silence I went to take a hot shower and then to cry myself to sleep. The constant rattle of rain on the roof, the small bed and the tiny pillow made me twist in bed a lot, but in the morning I was surprised about how fresh I felt.

Many eyes will be on me today and I wanted to look good, a difficult task giving that I had very few clothes warm enough for a day of January in Forks. So, I had to settle for some jeans that I know they fit me, a red long sleeve tee with a love-struck Pucca chasing after Garu, a black racer leather jacket and matching cowboy boots still dirty with desert sand.

Charlie watched me getting ready with a frown on his face. I could tell that he disliked my Icon Hella jacket, but I was not sure exactly why. He hated the white skull with crossbones on the front or the 13 on my back? I decided to snap him out of his frown.

'Dad, I must buy some clothes for this weather so I will go shopping after school.'

'Thank you, Bella. Do you need money for a new jacket?'

**I made the first chapter longer because I wanted to introduce my version of Bella. I always felt bad for the original one, designed to be clearly inferior to Edward: lonely, no friends, broken family, poor, clumsy, weak etc.**

**What do you think about my Bella and the first chapter?  
**


	2. Shell Shocked

**A.N.**

**I have a big Thank You for those who reviewed or have added this story to favorites and alerts. Now I finally know why all authors want reviews. I also have to thank the people that manage the "Alice/Bella: More then Friends" C2 for the amazing speed with which they added this story to their archive. I had barely posted the first chapter and I was amazed to find it already in this great C2. **

APOV

The class has started and I was again lost in my thoughts when a vision suddenly hit me. A beastly looking Edward was attacking his classmates, breaking their necks or ripping them apart, blood was gushing from the wounds, splattering on their faces and being shot by pounding hearts high on the walls. Screams exploded in the room and the panicked students tried to escape the Biology lab. The horrible sight had me stunned for a second, but then I realized that Edward had Biology now and the vision could become true any second. I pushed the onslaught of horrifying images out of my head and I stood up, leaving my classroom while stuttering an excuse for my teacher.

I ran at vampire speed to building four and I opened the door with force, startling the Biology teacher.

"I am sorry, but there is an emergency and Edward must leave now" I said without entering the room.

"Of course, go ahead Edward!" Mr. Banner replied.

Edward sprinted out of the classroom, but we did not say anything, we did not even look at each other. He just kept running towards the parking lot and I had a vision of him leaving straight for Denali.

After seeing the slaughter I felt sullied and disgusted, but, at the same time, all that blood made me thirsty and unsure of my control. I had to hunt now, so I walked into the forest behind the school where I started running at full speed. I kept running through the silent, wet forest until the wind and rain whipping my face reduced the nausea. I followed a bitter animal scent that led me to a moose dozing in the bushes. The huge animal provided me with a lot of blood and after draining its body I felt much more confident that I could be around humans, that I will not turn into a bloodthirsty beast like Edward almost had.

Back at school I looked for Jasper during the lunch break. He sensed that I was worried, disgusted and disappointed as he hurried towards me. He stopped in front of me, close, but, as usual, without touching me.

"What happened love?" he asked while I felt a familiar wave of unnatural calm as he tried to relax me.

"Edward was planning a blood bath in Biology. I had to go and take him out of the class. He is now driving to Denali". Jasper was clearly shocked by the news.

"What? Edward was losing control?" Jasper was clearly thinking that if Edward still had control problems after so many years of restrain then his own torment with temptation for human blood will never end.

"I hunted. Maybe you should do the same now. We waited too long too hunt and it was clearly a mistake" I said trying to reassure him.

"Yes, we pushed our luck too much; I will go hunt now, but I am not coming back to school today"

Jasper's calming effect has worked his wonders on me and I was feeling much better. After Jasper left I called Carlisle to give him the disturbing news then headed towards the cafeteria.

Rosalie and Emmett were already at our table looking worried.

"Where the hell have you been? And where are the other two morons?" Rose shot angrily.

"After I stopped Edward from committing mass murder he left for Alaska, I went hunting and Jasper is hunting now." The shocked look on their faces was precious and I started laughing as the tension of the last hours was dissipating.

"Edward took the Volvo and Carlisle can't pick as up, so we are going to walk home. And ... it's going to rain..." I added standing up. Rose face became a mask of disgust as she realized that everybody will see her looking like a drowned cat while crawling at human speed along the road.

I left the table before she recovered her ability to speak and I was already outside when I heard somebody running.

"Excuse me!" a girl called in my direction. I turned around to see her approaching me with a friendly smile on her face.

"Hi! I'm Bella"

"Alice" I replied shaking her warm hand. "Let's move out of the rain" I added pointing to the shelter of the cafeteria's room overhung. She followed me there and stood much closer to me then humans usually do. Her smell was beautiful, an exquisite perfume that attracted me without starting my thirst. Surprised, I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply and slowly until the wonderful smell filled my lungs. When I opened my eyes I saw that the girl was looking at me with an even bigger smile on her face.

"I'm new here, to this climate..." she started to speak weaving her hand dismissively at the water that was falling from the sky and covered the ground.

"... and I don't have clothes for this weather besides what it is on me..." I looked at her and I appreciated the way her clothes showed her long, slim legs and the basic outline of her body and also the rough attitude they conveyed, but it was clear to me that she would look astonishing in something more revealing and more feminine.

"... I am practically naked..." she continued making me imagine how she looks without clothes.

"... I really need to go shopping, but I don't know any shops here, but seeing how tasteful and with simple elegance you are dressed..." I realized that the girl was flattering me and I tried to protest, but Bella did not let me finish and stated:

"You belong on the cover of a fashion magazine"

"You're too kind" I tried to reply, but she ignored my answer.

"I need your help with my wardrobe, please!"

"Sure, I know all the shops in the Olympic peninsula"

"Great, can we go after school?" It was the first time in my long life when an absolute stranger has come to me and asked if I want to go shopping. This was a strange and wonderful event that needed to be celebrated even if she made her invitation because she was flirting with me. On the other side I knew that at home I will have to face Carlisle's questions on every gory detail of my vision and I was in no hurry for that.

"Sure, let's go to the Port Angeles department store. It's not much, but there is nothing else close enough"

"Great. See you here after school." Bella waved at me happily and went to her next class.

Being confined in a car with a human, especially with a nice smelling one like Bella, was something that we always avoided, but I was sure that I will have no problems tonight and my vision of Bella dropping me at home proved it.

Obviously, Rosalie thought differently and did not shy in giving me her opinion as I was heading to the parking lot after classes:

"You are taking this risk to show that you have better control then Edward." I shrugged and kept going until I met Bella by the cafeteria.

A large group of boys surrounded Bella's car and were busy analyzing the customizations it had. If the students were surprised to see a car like that in the parking lot of Fork High their surprise turned to shock when they noticed me climbing in the passenger seat of her car. I could see some of them gawking with their mouths open.

While Bella focused on getting out of the parking lot with all these people around her car, I started to slowly breathe the air inside her car. It was saturated by her smell, but it did not make me thirsty and I actually enjoyed it.

I wanted to know Bella better to pick outfits that fit her personality, but the only useful information I got from my general questions was that her favorite author was George Orwell. That did no help me much unless she wanted an Inner Party black jumpsuit. I went for a more direct approach:

"How much money do you want to spend?"

"I did not decide, but I have enough money. I sold Suzy, my motorcycle." she answered biting her lip.

"You are not happy about it" I concluded afraid that she will draw blood.

"I loved to ride her with 200 miles per hour and now I am spending the money I got for her on clothes"

"Maybe you are just turning from a tomboy into a more girly girl"

"Do you think that being a computer geek, racing speed motorcycles and working in a car custom shop means I'm a tomboy?" she asked laughing.

"I think you need a make over."

"True. That's why I fled home, too reinvent myself." she added with a serious, sad voice.

"I don't believe that I could ever leave my family and Jasper"

"Jasper is your boyfriend?"

"Yes. Did you have a boyfriend in Phoenix?" My visions of her answer kept changing as she was deciding what to answer.

"I had a girlfriend. But we broke up about a month ago and it was nothing serious anyway." She was watching me trying to decipher my reaction and her cheeks had blushed to a lovely and mouthwatering red. "Can you, please, keep that a secret?" she continued.

"This will be between us, girls" I said winking and smiling at her and that made her reply with a huge grin.

Being close to a human like this was a new sensation for me because either I stayed away from humans on reason of my bloodlust or they instinctively felt the danger and kept their distance, so I did not had much close contact with a human before. Now, for the first time, I was with a human that did not make me too thirsty and who showed no fear towards me.

The first stop inside the department store was at the furniture section as we were looking for a new, larger bed for Bella. Our search turned quickly into laughter when Bella started jumping or cutely posing on all the beds. She also did some delicate flirting like when she said that being both so pale we would look fantastic on her black silk sheets or when she invited me to join her in 'testing' the beds. By the time she finished trying out the clothes we picked I was very aware of her body in a way that I never was when shopping with Esme and Rosalie and it did not help that besides seeing her model the clothes in front of me I had many visions of her undressing or dressing up as we decided what to buy.

Claiming the need to get more in touch with her artistic and feminine side Bella bought many simple silk scarves and she forced me in promising I would help her hand paint them. It was easy to see that she proposed that as a ruse to get me to spend time with her, but in truth I was eager to be around her anyway.

Our shopping ended only when the store started closing. Bella wanted dinner and a coffee and I could not refuse her even as I claimed that I don't eat so late, but at least I picked a restaurant that, despite the dark and the rain, had a nice top view of the sea and from where we could see the illuminated ships moving up and down the busy sea lines of Juan de Foca Strait. When Bella realized where we were going she started laughing.

"We met a few hours ago and you already take me to a hotel?"


	3. Uncertainty Bussiness

**Thank you for your reviews. Fans of Twilight don't forget that on the 5****th**** of June (tomorrow) Stephanie Mayer's new Twilight novel will be launched free of charge on the Bree Tanner website. **

Jasper POV

I was worried. Edward was supposed to resist temptation much better then me, but he almost failed and he has hurt Alice, Esme and Carlisle. The images of the carnage he planned shocked and appalled my Alice to the core. Her reaction scared me. She was extremely angry with Edward despite that he actually did not kill the students and that made me wonder how she will react if I killed someone. Would she forgive me? What would I do if she does not? Without her always checking my future, preventing my mistakes, I could not keep with the Cullen vegetarian way of life.

I felt that sometimes the burden of her gift was weighing down on her despite her efforts to maintain her bubbly facade for our sake. In her visions she was witness to terrible things, things that she wasn't supposed to see and like today she would suffer because of things that don't even happen. I always knew that it is my duty to use my gift to ease her burden, but I realized that most of the virtual horrors that she had to see and prevent are because of me, because of my weakness for human blood. She is my crutch that keeps me from falling, but gets broken by my weight. Selflessly, day after day, she paid the price for my monstrous bloodlust until Edward finally pushed her too far. She was angry at him, but also at me, at all of us, even at herself, because what she hated in reality was our own nature, the beast inside each of us that lurks under our beauty, our civility ready to jump teeth out and rip the neck of the nearest person.

I was worried and she was late.

Finally, someone opened the front door. I looked up too see Emmett and Rosalie wet and covered with mud head-to-toe, but radiating joy.

"Mud wrestling?" I asked.

"And I won!" Rose answered smiling happily, her teeth gleaming strongly on her dirt-covered face.

"What? A facial mud mask?"

"You don't want too know." That was true, so I changed the subject.

"Where is Alice?" The post orgasmic glow on her face dimmed a little.

"Shopping. With a human." I could not believe that and I wanted details, but Emmett interfered: "Let's go upstairs before Esme kills us for the mud prints"

"Yes, this stuff it's drying up on me, we must go shower." In a blink of an eye Emmett grabbed her and took off upstairs at high speed.

Carlisle and Esme needed answers about what happened to Edward, but I could not tell them much, so I headed upstairs.

Finally I heard a car entering the driveway and then stopping in front of the house.

"You're living in the middle of the forest. Creepy!" a female voice commented outside.

"You have no idea." Alice laughed.

"Don't forget your scarves." I could hear the human memorizing the way to our house into her GPS before leaving. She was planning to come back.

The family gathered around the dining table and I sensed how the joy Alice felt gradually faded under the weight of her memories until she was again angry and disgusted. In a monotone voice and looking down at the table she told us what she has seen and done until Edward left for Alaska.

Esme sighed and asked: "Is Edward coming back?"

"He has not decided yet"

"The poor boy!"

Alice looked up, her anger flared "Maybe I would feel sorry for him, but I saw the slaughter he planned and you don't have to be a seer to know what the Volturi would have done to all of us after a public scandal like that." A perfect silence descended in the room, no heart beats, no breathing, a reminder that death can easily come even for vampires.

I succeeded in calming her only when we got to our room and she started playing with her scarves and to tell me about her trip with Bella. She clearly liked the human, so next morning at school I was looking up meeting her new friend. The four of were at our usual table in the cafeteria when I realized that Bella was coming our way from the sudden excitement Alice felt. Following her eyes I saw coming toward us a smiling brunette that made a curtsy in front of Alice and pointing at her own body asked: "Do you approve?"

The way she looked deserved approval. She had a body like an hourglass, her heart ticking like a clock, a blue cashmere dress sweater hugging her every curve and a high bun offering a tantalizing view of the white long neck vibrating with her pulse. Still, something was wrong about her and while Alice was introducing us I could not help but stare confused at the human standing in front of me, while she stared back defiantly with her expressive brown eyes.

She pulled down her scarf and told Alice "This is yours" Alice took the scarf and grinning widely offered Bella the one she was wearing. "And this is yours." After this strange exchange Bella was standing next to our table waiting for an invitation to join us, but when she realized that we will not ask her to join us she joked: "I must go get some food here at school; otherwise with Charlie buying food and cooking I will starve to death"

"This can not be!" I told my family after she left. "I don't feel her emotions. Nothing at all."

"Did this happen to you before?"

"Never. She is the first person immune to my ability."

"Do you think you can still change her emotions?"

"No. Feeling and changing emotions are tied together. If I don't feel her emotions I can not even try manipulating them."

Alice happily wrapped the scarf from Bella around her neck. At my questioning look she answered embarrassed: "I think she smells nice and this will help me desensitize to her smell even more"

I looked after the human girl that was now eating at a table surrounded by some local students that were looking curious at her and I noticed her sniffing discretely at the scarf she got from Alice. They both liked each others smell.

"I promised that I will help decorating her room, so I am going to visit her after school." Alice continued.

Life was changing, but I could not tell how.

When school was over a crowd of students surrounded the red BMW of Rosalie and the blue Audi that Bella owned. If the onlookers were amazed by the cars, the shock came when the two beautiful girls that owned them started discussing technical issues about exhaust customization in perfect mechanical lingo. I saw Alice climbing in Bella's car using the LSD vertical door, then she was hidden from my sight by the crowd.

**It never made sense how Bella could block all mental attacks, except Jasper's.**


	4. Welcome?

EPOV

It was time to head back from the week of self imposed quarantine in Denali because it was not helping. All I could think of was that girl, her chocolate brown eyes, her blushing cheeks, her irresistible smell. Not even Tanya's relentless pursuit of me could change that. I knew that Alice had seen my decision to come home and that it will make my family happy, so when I drove the Volvo closer to the house I was surprised to hear the thoughts of only Carlisle and Esme as they were having an intimate moment. Embarrassed, I stopped the car unsure what to do; this was not the welcome I expected. Fortunately, Carlisle heard the car and invited me in the house.

I went to the sofa in the living room when the smell that has chased me away struck again, my throat becoming parched.

"Where are the others?" I asked Carlisle.

"The girls ditched school after lunch break and went to a car show in Tacoma while the boys are out hunting."

"How are you, son?" Esme asked worried.

"This smell it's haunting me. I could not resist it in school and now I can smell it even here!"

"What smell?"

"The smell of a new girl drove me crazy with bloodlust. I wanted to drain her then and there. Now I can smell her here."

"You wanted to kill Bella?" Esme was angry.

"How do you know her?" It was my turn to be surprised.

"She was here during the weekend. Bella is such a nice and brave girl!"

"Why was she here?"

"She is friends with Alice, but she came here Saturday because she found out about us." Carlisle answered.

"She knew that we are vampires and she came here?" That girl was crazy.

"Shocking, I know. Alice had a vision of her coming here and confronting us, so she stood waiting for her on the driveway in direct sunlight. I thought that Bella will have a heart attack, but she is good with weird."

"How did she found out?"

"She says that she started from an unusual rant her dad made about the people in La Push having superstitions about us and then she seduced a Quileute boy in telling her a legend about us." The thought of Bella flirting with some kid made me angry.

"I want you to read her thoughts and verify her story." Carlisle continued.

"I can't read her mind"

"That's strange! Jasper's ability does not work on her either. I wonder why?" Carlisle was letting his scientific curiosity take over his thoughts.

"Can we trust her?"

"Alice says we can and we have no choice but to trust her now. I told Bella a lot about our history and way of life when I gave her the tour of the house." It was the first time when a human was in such close contact with our family and Carlisle had obviously enjoyed playing teacher for Bella.

I heard in the distance the sound of the BMW entering the driveway.

"I hope they dropped Bella home first" Esme commented. This means that Bella has been with Rosalie and Alice in the same car all the way to Tacoma and back.

"How can they stand her smell? It is so tempting!" I wondered loud.

Carlisle looked at me surprised.

"It seems that we react differently to her. For the rest of us she is a nice smelling human, better smelling then usual, but not irresistible like you describe her. Alice actually enjoys her perfume as you will soon discover." The warning was good because when Alice and Rosalie entered the room the smell of Bella on them set my throat on fire.

Alice looked cautious at me: "Maybe being exposed like this will reduce the chance of you killing her. You have to be careful." She continued the phrase in her head with a threat of bodily harm.

In the morning Alice waited for Bella in the parking lot to warn her about me and I spied on her thoughts from my class. Alice gave Bella some tips on how to avoid provoking my bloodlust during Biology and Bella listened focused.

"Anything else?" she asked seriously.

"Well..." Alice was grinning like the Cheshire cat "you could shower!" I heard with my own ears, from the class I was in, the profanities Bella was shouting while running after Alice.

****

Jacob POV

Since her first visit to La Push two weeks ago Bella took it upon herself to play peacemaker between our fathers and somehow she succeeded, but not without making Billy angry somehow. I barely turned off the loud engine of my rust bucket of a truck when she came out to welcome us.

"Hi Billy!" she started then she high-fived me.

"Whassup dog?" she greeted me in what was either a bad imitation of judge Randy or a failed attempt of street slang. Billy started coughing then ordered us inside the house. Charlie and Billy took up their usual positions in front of the TV while we headed upstairs.

Bella's room was big and nice and some rock music was playing in the computer speakers. The only thing I disliked was that the bitter perfume Bella was always wearing smelled strongly in the air.

A small, beautiful girl came towards me.

"Hi, I'm Alice" she introduced herself.

"Jacob" I replied. So this was Alice Cullen, the girl that Bella was hopelessly pursuing since she moved here. I could see what Bella has seen in her; she had a perfectly sculptured body, a small round ass and a beautiful face framed by spikes of black hair. She seemed to vibrate with energy as she went to sit near the computer.

It was obvious that Alice and Bella would make a great looking couple. I imagined the taller girl leaning her head to capture the lips of the other one, running her fingers in the spiked hair while Alice would put her hands on Bella's delicate waist and pull her closer...

I knew that they are not together, but I could not help thinking about them like that. Letting my imagination run was a bad idea, so I pried my eyes from them and I looked around for a distraction.

I focused on the strange decorations painted on the window curtains and I realized that the colors were shaped like human bodies. Like female bodies to be more exact. My pulse started to rise again. The paintings on the curtains looked home made. And I presumed that they were created when someone, some girl, maybe Alice, placed paint on the naked body of another girl, maybe Bella, who then lye down on the curtain, her naked, paint-covered body leaving a print on the cloth...

The images in my head were very vivid and I desperately needed something to take my mind from them.

I finally found something safe, the poster of a guy racing a motorcycle with a caption reading 'The Doctor' and the large letters WLF watermarked on it. I had no idea who the guy was, but I was glad that I found something not related to sex.

"Long live pussy!" Bella said to me from the computer.

"W-what?" I stuttered confused.

"WLF stands for 'Viva la Figa' that means 'Long Live Pussy' in Italian. It's the motto of Valentino Rossi" Here goes my last safe place.

"I agree with it. What music it's that?" I asked before the girls focused again on the computer.

Alice replied with a smile "Within Temptation"

Indeed.

I gave up resisting and focused my attention on the girls. Bella was working on something on the computer while Alice offered her suggestions in a low voice. There was definitely a connection between the girls that allowed them to communicate without many words.

"What are you doing there?" I asked.

"A website for our High School. Some evil wrongdoer repeatedly hacked into and destroyed the one they had before." Bella answered with a theatrical villain smile.

"If we make a new and improved website the principal promised that we will do system maintenance during the hated P.E. hours." Alice continued.

"That means that instead of playing volleyball in the gym we play Sims in the library."

Gradually I started to relax and even to enjoy myself when Alice made humorous descriptions of the teachers and students of Forks High that we joked will be added to the website.

The game downstairs was over and it was time for us to leave. Bella warned me again:

"Don't tell Billy that Alice was here or he will not let you came back ever!"

"The old man and his foolish superstitions!" I snorted in disdain but both girls looked disapproving at me.

"He is a man of traditions and even if he has many prejudices, you should be more tolerant with him and everybody else" I had no idea why Bella was now defending Billy but I knew that she had her reasons to promote tolerance.

"Are you leaving now too?" I asked Alice.

"Soon" she replied.

Bella bit her lower lip.

**Thank you for reviews. This chapter was fun to write, I hope it was fun to read too. Next chapter we will go back in Bella's naughty, pretty head :)**


	5. Cassandra

Cassandra

BPOV

"Bella! Wake up!" the voice of the angel broke into my dreams.

"What? Why? It's the middle of the night!" I tried to protest.

"The sun has risen and Charlie left to work. Wake up!" I looked towards the windows and some faint light was indeed coming in, a typical February morning in Forks with the sky covered by threatening clouds undecided between punishing us with frozen rain or wet snow. Only a vampire could be full of energy in a morning like this one and I knew that the one in my room would not give up until I was fully functional.

When I was out of the bathroom Alice called me to breakfast: Pop-Tarts and coffee.

"Wow! You are a cook as good as me and Charlie"

"What do you expect? I like my food extra-rare"

"Oh, I forgot to thank you about the raccoons!"

"What raccoons?" For the first time I was surprising Alice.

"Some raccoons were raiding our trash but since you start visiting me they are gone." My payback for being awoken too early was sweet.

"I did not eat your raccoons!" Alice huffed indignantly.

"I know, but you must have chased them away being so very cute and scary"

"Awe, and you like cute and scary, don't you" she cooed "like the dragon tattoo on your shoulder. I had a vision connected with it" Her attitude was now very serious and it was my turn to be surprised.

"You had a vision of my tattoo?"

"It is the same with the drawings on the doors of your car and the logo of Jeff's car shop in Phoenix. My vision was about this connection."

"What do you mean?" Something cold was creeping in my heart.

"I am sorry Bella, but I came here to tell you that Jeff and your other friends have made a decision. They are attacking SWIFT again and they will be caught." I froze for a second.

"I must do something, I must warn them!" Alice shrugged.

"Are you going to tell them that you know what will happen from a seer vampire? I can see that your warning will not change their minds, but it will be used as evidence against you in the inquiry"

I felt hopeless. They ignored my advice before I left and would do the same again because greed made them blind of the perils ahead of them. I did not have the power to stop them and they did not have the power to stop themselves. All I could do was to weep, to watch my friends fall and to wait my turn.

Alice put her cold arm on my shoulders and gave me a hug and I felt better knowing that this wonderful being was here to help me.

"What about me?" I asked in a weak voice.

"In my vision the house was searched for evidence and they seized your computer." I felt like the roof fell on me.

"Charlie will kill me if I embarrass him like that."

"I hope that if we take timely action we will avoid the search."

The first action I had to take was spending all the money I had left on a shrewd criminal defense lawyer recommended by J. Jenks, the shady lawyer the Cullens used, then I had to obtain some legal papers as evidence of my good behavior, claiming that I needed them for a college scholarship application.

After several days of torturous worry the only thing left was to wait for my friends to fall into the trap set for them.

"Just a few hours" I thought looking at my mobile. I opened it and scrolled until I found Jeff's number. I was trying to decide what to do when the phone started ringing. Of course, it was Alice:

"Put down the phone and open the balcony door, I am coming over"

The instant she came in my room I felt better, but I could not take my mind from what was happening in Phoenix, so I stood in the bed, under covers, with Alice holding me and I remembered the moments spent with my friends.

Half laughing, half crying I told Alice everything:

I remembered how I would go from school directly to the shop and do my homework in the office until a client would come. My job was to help a certain category of clients, men that wanted to impress others with cosmetic modifications on their cars, and who would try to convince me to go out with them while I had to make them understand how much will be impressed by their personality a girl like me if only they changed their bumpers.

After work we took our motorcycles on the now empty highways leading out of the city and went 200 miles per hour into the desert, the hot air rising from the road blurring the horizon. At sunset we would return in the city, sometimes to toy with our computers, sometimes to meet other bikers in the industrial area. There we would talk about customization, what's new, who crashed and wrecked his bike, often even about who died. The warm night air smelled of burned fuel and overheated tires from the stunts performed on the street until we were chased away by the approaching sound of police sirens if we heard them over so many loud pipes.

Reliving those moments and telling about them to Alice, made waiting less painful and eventually I fell asleep.

In the morning I called Jeff's girlfriend and I really cried when she told me about the arrests despite the fact that my surprise was fake.

It was almost noon when I put on the clothes that we already picked to make me look well dressed and neatly groomed and the plan was set in motion, the first part being the hardest, calling and telling Charlie. Hiding this mess from him would have been a huge mistake and I needed him beside me, looking serious in his police uniform, too make me look more trustworthy.

"Hi dad!"

"Hi Bells, what's wrong?" He knows me pretty well.

"Dad some people I worked with in Phoenix were arrested last night and I may be a suspect too" I heard him gasping for air over the phone. "I hired a lawyer and he said I must go today to the Federal Building in Olympia and offer to testify before they come and search the house." He was not breathing anymore. "Alice and Jasper are going to drive me there and it would be better if you joined us. Please."

"Isabella, pick me up from the police station."

The atmosphere in the car was tense despite Jasper's efforts to relax Charlie and me. Jasper did not look happy to be here either, but he never looked happy anyway.

We met my lawyer in the lobby and I gave him the papers while he explained the rules:

"You speak only when I give you a signal by looking at you. If I give you the signal answer with yes or no or as briefly as possible."

Charlie and I followed him into a conference room while Alice and Jasper waited outside.

The agent handling my case was bald, bored and with big glasses.

"Miss Swan, I am surprised to see you here." he started.

"She is just doing her civic duty." my lawyer replayed with a lie no one believed. "We have brought you some documents that will help the understanding of these unfortunate circumstances" he continued. "School records from Phoenix and Forks show her to be an excellent student, her criminal record is spotless, she has impressive athletic achievements and she leads a large charity" At the end he was talking about my very recent appointment as the strawperson president of an environmentalist foundation that Alice was financing from the shadows, a non-profit organization for the protection of the rain forest and wildlife of the Olympic Peninsula.

I had to say that this lawyer was good, he almost convinced me of how nice person I am. Of course, I told him from the beginning what I did and even that I knew that a crime would be attempted, so he knew who I am, but he did not care, a true professional.

"Miss Swan, would you allow us access to your computer?" The agent looked at me with kindness and I wondered what was wrong with him before I realized that this was Jasper's doing.

"Sadly, her personal computer had a malfunction and was partially destroyed, so she bought a new laptop. Both events are proven with documents." It was a weird sensation to have someone else answer questions addressed to me.

The agent put some questions about events in Phoenix and eventually my lawyer allowed me to respond after objections and reformulations, but it was clearly a formality and 'I do not know' was the answer expected by everybody. And it was clear to all of them, including Charlie, that I was not innocent.

The bored bureaucrat was now relaxed and in a good mood, so at the end he even said that we overreacted by coming and putting an honorable police chief like Charlie in this delicate position.

Things looked better, but I relaxed only outside when the lawyer summed them up: "The agent understood that there is no evidence at your house, so he will not ask for a search warrant and he realized that we will put up a good fight, so they will do nothing on your case unless they get new solid evidence from Phoenix." Alice confirmed with a nod what he said and I trusted her much more. For the last days she was always there for me, giving me her support and I knew that I could have not done anything without her.

When we got home Charlie finally broke down:

"How can you do this to me?" I wondered when this has become about him.

"What? Ask for your help?"

"You are going to spend the next 30 years in prison for your crimes!"

"You have convicted me already? I hope I do better with the jury if I go to trial!"

"I am sure you are going to weasel your way out like you did today" he said bitter.

"You are sorry that I will go to prison or that I will stay out? Make up your mind!"

"I am a cop!"

"And?" He is not going to say that.

"And you are a criminal" He said it.

"I thought I was your daughter!"

He looked at me, his brown eyes sparkling with fury and I knew that my eyes were a perfect mirror of his eyes.

**AN: Make me happy and tell me what you think about this chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6

Out

BPOV

I sighed. I wished I could purr like a cat or like Alice, but I could not. It was not nice to moan, so I could only sigh. I sighed again.

The massage I was getting was perfect not only because it was the girl of my dreams who was performing it and I loved the feel of her hands rubbing perfumed oil on my bare skin, but because she would never tire doing it. Of course, the fact that she could predict what I will like or not helped, so I felt like in heaven while lying face down in my bed wearing only my panties.

"Why Katherine hates you?" That was not really a topic I wanted to talk about with Alice and I bet she has seen that as well.

"She hates me?" I tried to sound innocent.

"Yes. And she decided to seek revenge on you. Why?" This was getting interesting.

"Let's say that I had hand painted some letters on her car. What is she doing?"

"She will seek students of Forks High on a social network website to start some gossip"

"About what?"

"She will send photos with you two kissing"

"She is outing me to the school!"

"At least you look good in those pictures" My true consolation was getting this great massage.

"I will be the school freak. What should I do?" Forks was a small town, isolated and rather poor, a close knit and homogenous rural community living out of forestry with only the passing hikers as outside contact. Since before I came to Forks I feared bullying if the others students find out I was gay after I had bad experiences even in the much more diverse Phoenix.

"You are worried about those kids, but I am more concerned about what reaction Jasper will have. He may think that I am cheating on him with you"

The image in my head of Mike Newton calling me names in the school cafeteria was immediately replaced by that of an angry and bloodthirsty Jasper hunting me from the shadows. I gulped as my mouth run dry.

"I would be more satisfied if he would kill me because I actually made love with you rather then die a victim of a misunderstanding".

Alice playfully smacked my ass making me tense my buttocks for a second.

"There is no need to be such a drama queen. I can handle Jasper, but if you want to keep hanging out with me without getting to his bad side, I think that you should date someone. He trusts me because he can read my feelings but he cannot get yours, so show him that you like someone else" I felt my heart sunk because Alice not only has again stated bluntly that she has no feelings for me, but she also suggested that I move on. On the bright side she said these things because she wanted me around and while I was not the owner of her heart, or of any part of her gorgeous body, at least I could get some form of satisfaction from being near her. If fake dating someone will allow me to keep getting these massages from Alice then I will start dating very soon.

The Cullen's took me with them to Portland for a rare event, one of Edward's compositions, a sonata created by him in the 1920's under an alias, was being played at a concert there. I was not a big fan of Edward or of classical music, but I could not pass the occasion of a road trip with my favorite vampire coven. It was inconvenient for them to be for many hours in a car with a human, so I travelled to Portland with the most resilient of them: Alice, who liked my smell, Carlisle, practically immune to the temptations of human blood, and Rosalie, who was stubborn enough to resist even the greatest cravings, but who also stated jokingly that would break my neck if I did something to her car.

The concert itself was focused on composers of the Roaring Twenties and even for someone with little knowledge of music like me it was clear that Edward's composition, carefully constructed and romantic, was very different from the other works from the Jazz Age that used a variety of styles and instruments. There was no joy in his music, no powerful emotion, just a disciplined and technically difficult composition that was as exciting as an equation.

After we left the hall and we were safely out of ear shot of any human everybody started commenting the concert. Between the maternal reminiscences of Esme and the booming jokes of Emmet I offered with a small voice my insincere compliments to Edward. I did not expect him to reply to me of all people, but he turned towards me and looking intently in my eyes he said "Thank you, but this music does not represent me anymore, I have changed". I had no idea what to answer to that so I looked away catching a glimpse of Jasper who was staring shocked at Edward. In a split second Jasper's expression turned to normal and we kept walking on the brightly illuminated streets of Portland. The evening air was unusually worm and it smelled like spring.

Soon Esme pointed towards the entrance of a club and told all of us to get in: "Bella needs to eat before we go back and the rest of us must do something to kill time while we wait".

I went with Emmet at the bar and had some pie then we searched for the others among the dancing crowd while a band was performing on stage. We found the rest of the coven near one of the side walls of the room, in the middle of the only empty area. It looked like all humans were giving them unconsciously a wide berth, all but me, the suicidal moth. Emmet headed straight towards Rosalie and kissed her passionately like they have been apart for years, not minutes and I started dancing with the others. It was magic to see them dance in the low light, moving their perfect bodies with breathtaking grace. My eyes kept returning to Alice, checking her out, caressing her curves, watching her every move, she was gorgeous even when she was silly, making funny dance moves.

I felt that I belong there in the middle of a group of laughing and dancing vampires like I never felt belonging anywhere, but that feeling was shattered when the band changed the rhythm to a slow dance. Jasper grabbed Alice and started spinning her, our group dissolved each of the vampires holding their mate in their arms while moving to the music. I was left alone amid the dancing couples, looking disoriented for a path out of their way, seeking the safety of the wall. Before I could decide where to move somebody stood in front of me. I looked up and saw Edward offering me his hand. The music was drowning the sound of his whisper but I could read his words on his lips and in his eyes "Dance with me, please!" A laughter that I could recognize among a million others echoed in the room like the ringing of tiny, silver bells. I pondered for a second and I decided that I would rather be in the arms of a vampire desperately thirsting for my blood then to stay on the sidelines looking at Alice and Jasper moving intertwined.

I made a step towards Edward and I could see him tense, he was unsure of his control over his bloodlust and that did not brought me comfort, but I soldiered on and put my arms on his broad shoulders. The feeling of his cold hands on the overheated skin of my hips sent shivers down my spine. Edward was a good dancer thanks to his natural inclination for music, so I let myself be led by him and the beat. After a couple of minutes I started to relax. Usually I tried to stay out of Edward's way and he kept his distance. Adding to that I was completely blind to everything else if Alice was around, so it was the first time when I was actually paying attention to his looks and I had to admit that he was quite beautiful, for a man. Large and strong built, but lean and supple at the same time, with an unruly mane of reddish blond hair, moving with the restrained grace of a cat and studying me with a hungry look in his yellow eyes, he bagged for a comparison. A lion. I was dancing with a man-eating lion.

He pulled me closer and bowed his head towards me. I tilted my head giving him access to my neck, my ear.

"Why are you smiling?" he asked. His cold breath on the side of my neck gave me chills.

"I am not afraid of you" He stopped dancing and looked me in the eyes.

"You should be" His teeth were glistening in the dark.

"I know"

"You don't understand. I'm dangerous. I'm a…" I placed a finger on his lips silencing him. He did not dared even breathe.

"I know what you are" I smiled "you are my dance partner, so let's dance" This time we stood much closer from each other and danced until the band stopped playing.

Carlisle broke the silence when we all gathered "Time to go"

"Why?" Rosalie loved to dance even more then she loved to fix cars.

"Tomorrow is a school day and some of us need to sleep before going to school" Carlisle explained.

"And we all know who those people are" I added. The weak human was breaking the party.

Sweet Esme comforted me "I wanted to go home anyway"

"I'm going too" Edward added. "I need a bite before school" Everybody looked at him in shock; they could not believe that he made a joke, even more a vampire joke.

Rosalie was unmoved "We're staying" All eyes turned to Alice but she kept humming the next song, so Jasper had to decide "There is not room for all of us in one car so we return with Rose"

Outside the night air was much cooler then before and the streets were deserted. I wished that I could go back into the club, take Alice in my arms and dance with her on a corny love song. I could barely hear the footsteps of the vampires while my own resonated loudly. The walk to the car park seemed much longer now than before and with the excitement gone I realized how tired I was. Edward opened the car door for me and to my surprise joined me in the backseat. Usually the vampires that had problems with my scent stayed in the front seats where they opened the air inlets and remained upwind from me, so I expected Carlisle, not Edward to join me in the backseat of the Mercedes.

"Thank you for dancing with me" Edward, always so polite.

"I enjoyed it, so I should be the one thanking you"

"You are to kind, but we both know that is not true"

"I mean it!"

"It cannot be fun dancing with someone that scares you"

"I am not afraid of you!" he was getting on my nerves.

"I am sorry! I should have not put you in an uncomfortable position like that"

"If I did not wanted to dance with you I would have refused you"

"You should have refused to dance with me. It would have been wiser" I felt the need to hit him in the head.

"Why? You did not like it?"

"Of course I liked it, but…" I did not let him finish.

"Then would you like to come with me at the high school Spring Dance?" He looked at me in complete shock and started stuttering something that sounded like a 'yes'.

I said as sweet as I could "Thank you. Can I ask you another huge favor?"

"Y-yes"

I hissed at him thru my clenched teeth "Shut up! I'm trying to sleep here!" The last thing I heard was Esme laughing in the driver seat then I fell asleep leaning on Edward.

In the morning I stood under the cafeteria overhung and watched the Cullens arrive at school. Jasper and Edward went straight inside without even looking at me. Rosalie and Emmet came by and wished me luck, only Alice stopped to talk with me. Luckily, she was the one I wanted to see, the one I needed.

"I guess you already told your siblings about the big, bad dyke"

"I have seen your decision to come out today and I wanted to help you with it"

"Thanks. I expected Jasper to take it bad, but I had no idea that Edward is homophobic"

"It's a bit more complicated than that, but I will handle both of them, you be careful with the humans"

By lunch time my stomach was in knots. I went at my usual table with the usual people: Mike and Eric, who both timidly flirted with me, but with other girls as well, Jessica and Lauren, the inseparable gossip queens of Forks High and sweet, shy Angela. I just stayed there waiting to muster some courage. Eric was on the chair next to me and he was eating and speaking at the same time, so I tried to tune out of the friendly banter to better ignore him, but Jessica addressed me directly.

"So Bella did you invited anyone to the dance?"

"Yes" I whispered. All eyes turned towards me and the other conversations stopped.

Eric stuffed a huge chunk of mystery meat in his mouth and asked "Who?"

"Edward" An excited cacophony ensued.

"Edward?" "Who?" "A Cullen?" "Wow" I decided to spit it all out.

"I asked him last night when we were coming back from a nightclub in Portland" The cacophony grew louder and more confusing so I just kept with my monologue and that silenced them.

"I just hope it goes better then my last date. Can you guys keep a secret?" They all nodded 'yes' and leaned closer, except Angela who shook her head vigorously 'no', but I continued anyway.

"The last person I dated was -" I stopped for a second, not for added dramatic effect, but to give Eric time to start sipping soda "- a girl" The explosion of surprised interjections was accompanied by Eric spewing coke out from his nose while his paper cup and the liquid inside flew in the air. Everybody tried to move away from the table and I did the same but I also deliberately knocked my open bottle of water adding to the mess. This gave me the excuse that I needed and I left the lunch to go wash without further embarrassing discussions. On my way out I saw the Cullens roaring with laughter and Alice winked at me.

As I knew she would, Jessica told everybody in our high school, Forks and Olympic Peninsula about my sexual preferences and her gossip was soon backed with photos. The surprise was that these events brought me closer to her, Angela, Mike and the others than ever before. I had no idea if they felt guilty for outing my secret or believed that I am a cool addition to their group, but the end result was that they supported me in school so I escaped any bullying. Of course, I had to play my part, be a good friend and spend more time with them, even outside school.

This is why Angela picked me up in her car on the next Saturday evening and we went to Jessica. Her parents were away and we were supposed to get together and have fun. Our arrival was greeted with enthusiasm by the group gathered in her living room, mostly the people from our lunch table, Taylor and a few I did not know well. "I brought reinforcements" I announced pulling out a bottle with a clear liquid inside. "What's that?" someone asked. "Quileute whitedog" The moonshine illegally produced at the reservation since the Prohibition was famous in the neighboring towns as a pure and honest drink without the fancy flavor additions often used to hide defects. I also believed that the name was very fitting given the fact that the people making this drink were descendants of oversized canines.

The evening went on with chatter, jokes, music and snacks while the liquid fire of the whitedog was working its chemical magic on our brains.

At some point Jessica decided that it was time to do something else, to play a game called 'Dare', a local variant of 'Truth or Dare?' that has done away with the truth option because Jessica said that they already know everything about each other. I said that I did not want to play but they answered that this is not an option either.

Lauren proposed that the host be the first one to make a dare and once that was accepted Jessica looked at me.

"Bella, because it is the first time you play with us I will make the first dare for you" This was not good.

"Don't worry I'll pick an easy one." She continued.

"I dare you to…" she stopped to come up with an idea "…kiss…" she looked around at the hopeful guys in her living room "…Lauren"

"And make it real" she added.

This was stupid. I would not let myself be used for the voyeuristic pleasure of these rednecks. I felt anger boiling up in me. They played in public the role of my enlightened, tolerant friends only to humiliate me in private. I stood up ready to shout my anger and refuse the dare and their idiotic game when I realized that something doesn't add up.

I looked at Lauren; I knew that she was not a pushover, but she was not protesting being involved in the dare of someone else and she did not mind that she will be the target of countless bad jokes after this. Amid the laughter and whistles she didn't even looked angry at her best friend that has betrayed her. She just stood there.

I also noticed that she has done something with her blonde hair and that she had blue make up shades around her eyes to bring out their color. In fact, she was the only one of us that had dressed nicer, not in everyday clothes.

Realization finally came. This was not a bad joke, but an elaborate set up created by Jessica and Lauren to make Lauren and I kiss. I was not sure why but my theory was that she was bi-curious, with little chances to test her attraction towards women in Forks until I came out. Rather than admitting something risky like wanting another girl they concocted this complicated maneuver that freed her of any responsibility. I was her unwilling test subject in an experiment but I still felt a tinge of sympathy for her and now that I knew what was going on I was willing to play the game.

I raised my right hand and gestured her to come to me. The tall, skinny blonde obeyed me and moved closer. She was tense and distracted by the noisy spectators. I took one of her hands and placed it on my waist and then I slowly put her other palm on one of my breasts. Her gasp was drowned by the audience shouting and whistling. My arms encircled her; one went behind her head, the other at the small of her back. My lips touched hers but I pulled them back after a second. Before she could react my lips were briefly touching hers again and again, each time a bit longer and stronger. This treatment got her attention and she became focused only on my tease. When she came to expect me to pull back I deepened the kiss while my arms pulled our bodies in a close embrace. She let out a small moan and kissed me back while my fingers slipped a little under the waist of her jeans to briefly caress the sensitive skin there.

I broke up the kiss and looked around the room. I noticed that Mike was shouting the loudest.

"Mike, I really like to hear you scream" I started.

"So, I dare you to…" Everybody was silent now "…wax your armpits"

**AN. I wanted to stop writing this but it kept haunting me, so here I am again…Sorry for the extended break. **


	7. Monsters

Twilight belongs to S. Meyer.

**A shorter, but darker chapter.**

Monsters

BPOV

I took a deep breath, opened the house door and marched in the living room of the Cullens with a confidence I did no really felt. It was only a matter of pride because I was fully aware that the predators inside the room could smell my fear. Alice came to stand beside me at blinding speed and introduced me to the other guests:

"Charlotte, Peter, this is our friend Bella"

I managed to utter some pleasantries to the couple in front of me and they did the same but we all kept our distance. Their beautiful pale faces were framed by white blonde hair that only made their crimson eyes stand out more and those fierce-looking eyes were the only things I could focus at. Of course, I knew what that eye color meant, but Alice assured me that I will be safe around Jasper's friends regardless of their diet. I decided to try some conversation:

"Alice told me that you wanted to meet me, but I could not understand why"

"We never met before a human that likes to spend time with vampires, so you made us curious" the tall man answered, "And you were pitched to us as one of the benefits of the vegetarian lifestyle" Charlotte added.

"What do you mean?"

Carlisle decided to enlighten me "I believe that our diet makes possible not only us living together as the largest group of vampires outside Volterra, but also to befriend humans like you"

"Did you ever had other human…" Alice poked me in the ribs so I changed my choice of words from pet to friend. "… human friend?"

"No. But we never tried until now."

Peter interfered "Maybe it is not about the Cullen diet; maybe this girl is different from other humans in that she is naturally more accepting of vampires"

"Would you go on a walk in the forest with Charlotte and Peter?" Carlisle countered.

The thought of being alone in the dark woods with those two was scary. I shook my head.

"Would you be friends with the Cullens if they would hunt humans?" Peter asked.

I imagined sweet Esme ripping the throat of a hiker with her teeth. It was absurd and disgusting. If that would happen they would not be the Cullens I knew anymore.

"No."

"You know that some of them have killed humans?"

"Yes, but they chose not to do it anymore" My answer made Carlisle beam with pride.

I felt emboldened to continue "I understand that for you humans are just food, but for me human life is sacred. Destroying one's hopes and dreams and bringing pain to his family and friends it is not only cruel, it is a terrible waste. I could not be friends with murderers"

Peter smiled at me "You are very brave and very young. Let me tell you a story" he then started telling me about the Southern Wars. Despite Jasper and Charlotte adding explanations I soon lost track of the story with all the endless blood baths, the newborn armies, the battles, the Guard, the betrayals, so I could not see what his point was besides that he had almost the same disregard for the life of vampires as he had for the lives of the humans he fed on.

After a while we all went to a clearing deep in the mountains where the vampires played football. It was too fast for me, so I did not understood much of what happened, but I could see that in the heat of the game they knocked down lots of trees further expanding the meadow. Alice kept me safe and she was also the referee sometimes announcing fouls before they even happened.

101010010101

Two days later I was leaving the diner after my usual meal of junk food when I spotted Carlisle walking in the rain, so I offered him a ride home.

"Did you liked Peter and Charlotte?" he asked me once he was in my car.

"Not really. I was actually surprised that they are your friends with their choice of a diet"

"They are more friends with Jasper, but I do have friends with the same habits"

"And you have no problem with that?" I inquired.

"I don't like it, but the only thing I can do is to show them that there is another way. The choice is theirs."

"And they choose to kill humans"

"I cannot force them to stop. Everyone has to decide for himself and will be judged for his option." The fact that Carlisle was a vampire with religious beliefs was always surprising for me.

"So, you believe that they are free to sin if they want to"

"That is what free will means"

"But their sin is murder!"

"I am not the police" He was a good man that has gone to great lengths to avoid harming others and he was helping suffering people.

We had entered the long and narrow Cullen driveway when I was forced to break hard. A green, old, light truck was blocking the road. We descended from the car and were met by a man wearing a hunting parka.

"Hi. Are you lost?" Carlisle asked him.

The man looked nervously at him "No. Why?"

"My name is Cullen and this is my driveway. What are you doing here?"

The stranger was now looking at me; smiling wirily he asked "What's her name?"

"Why?"

"Actually, it doesn't matter." While saying that he pulled a pistol out of his jacket and aimed it at Carlisle. "I can have fun with her without knowing her name"

"You don't want to do that"

Still smiling the man answered "Yes, I do" and he fired the gun in the chest of the vampire. In the blink of an eye Carlisle jumped at him, knocked the weapon out of his hand, then he grabbed the man by the throat with one hand and raised him from the ground.

I started shouting "Are you alright?"

Carlisle calmed me down "Sure." I could see the hole that the bullet has made in his jacket before it ricocheted away from the hard marble-like skin. He put the choking man down "Don't move!"

I looked for the pistol on the wet ground and found it near a shovel. I picked it up and went to the truck. In the back I could see a bulky, rolled rug. I climbed in the truck and pulled at the rug; it rolled open revealing a corpse. It was a young woman, naked, her hands and feet bound, black and purple marks on her face and her body. The rain dripping on her open, foggy eyes made her look like she was crying.

I started retching violently. Carlisle helped me come down from the truck.

"What are we going to do now?" I asked.

"Not much we can do"

"What do you mean Carlisle?"

"We have to let him go." Anger started boiling in my veins.

"No!"

"We can't go to police and have him talk about me deflecting bullets. He knows my name and where I live." Carlisle was right.

"Even if you let him go he still knows all these things so he can be a problem"

"True, but I doubt that he wants to draw attention to him. Anyway, we will have to leave Forks now." This was unacceptable.

"Kill him then!" Carlisle sighed and shook his head.

"I never killed anyone and I will not start now. Killing him would be cold blooded murder."

"He deserves to die!"

"That it is not my judgment to make. And if I kill him I break the treaty and start a war with our neighbors"

Hearing our discussion helped the man recover from shock so he dared ask Carlisle "What are you?" He was hoping that he will get away, that he will rape and kill again.

I steeled myself as I turned to Carlisle "Please, leave!"

"What? No!"

"I will handle this"

"Why?"

"It is my responsibility"

"No, it is not. You are not a policeman, you are just a girl."

I pointed to the truck "So was she. Somebody has to do it and there is nobody else but me"

"There are many monsters in this world. Are you going to fight them all?"

"I don't know, but I'm standing up to this one"

"You will tarnish your soul"

"I will rather lose my soul then allow for some other girl to suffer like that" Remembering what Charlie taught me at the shooting range I took a deep breath, steadied my feet, gripped the pistol with both hands and aimed it at the man.

Carlisle shook his head. "Your choice" He then left at blinding speed.

The stranger looked after him. "What is that?"

"A vampire"

"Really?" I was not in a mood for chitchat.

He continued "Are you going to shoot an unarmed, defenseless man?" He was trying to talk me out of it, but I remembered what he had done to an unarmed, defenseless girl. The gun came alive in my hand when I pulled the trigger. As Charlie trained me I fired immediately a second shot. The man stumbled and fell backwards. I aimed again and fired shot after shot until the magazine was empty then I threw away the gun.

I felt nauseated as I pulled out the phone and I called Charlie.

The clouded sky started spinning.

"Isabella?"

"Dad, I'm in the Cullens driveway. I killed somebody." The puddles of rain turned the color of Peter's eyes. A frantic voice was coming from the phone but it slipped from my fingers. The ground jumped towards my face and everything turned black.


End file.
